Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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PROCESS FOR FLUORINATING HALOGENATED HYDROCARBON
The present invention relates to a process for
fluorinating a halogenated hydrocarbon. More particularly,
the present invention relates to a process for preparing a
hydrocarbon such as 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane which is useful
S as a refrigerant, a blowing agent, a propellant, a cleaning
agent and the like.
As a fluorination catalyst, chromium oxide which may be
supported on alumina is known (see Japanese Patent Publication
Nos. 10310/1964, 3004/1967 and 44973/1987 and U.S. Patent Nos.
3,426,009, 3,755,477 and 4,158,675). Also, fluorination in
the presence of a chromium salt or partially fluorinated
chromium oxide which may be supported on a carrier is known
(see U.S. Patent Nos. 2,745,886 and 2,885,427, DE Patent No.
1,252,182, Japanese Patent Publication No. 54503/1976,
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 132549/1978 and
W089/10341).
There is also known a catalyst comprising chromium oxide
and an additive such as NaF (U.S. Patent No. 3,644,545), Mg or
Ba (Japanese Patent Publication No. 43922/1974), a transition
metal (U. S. Patent No. 4,792,643) or A1P04 (Japanese Patent
Publication No. 17413/1989). Further, there are known
processes using a catalyst comprising metal chromium (Japanese
Patent Kokai Publication Nos. 19038/1985 and 221338/1989) or a
metal other than chromium (Japanese Patent Kokai Publication
Nos. 186945/1987, 268651/1989, 172933/1990 and 95438/1990).
U.S. Patent No. 4,766,259 discloses a fluorination
reaction using partially fluorinated aluminum oxide.
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A liquid phase fluorination reaction using an Sb catalyst
is known. In addition, a liquid phase fluorination reaction
using an alkali metal fluoride as a catalyst is known (see
U.S. Patent No. 4,311,863 and Japanese Patent Kokai
Publication No. 228925/1989).
Now, the fluorination of a halogenated hydrocarbon is
explained by reference to the preparation of 1,1,1,2-
tetrafluoroethane (hereinafter referred to as "134a") through
fluorination of trichloroethylene or 1,1,1-
trifluorochloroethane (hereinafter referred to as "133a") in a
gas phase. It is not advantageous to synthesize 134a from
133a by a liquid phase reaction in view of low yield and
material of the reactor.
When the above fluorination reaction is carried out in a
gas phase, conversion of 133a to 134a is low due to
equilibrium. Therefore, a catalyst to be used should catalyze
this reaction at a relatively low conversion and have a
sufficiently long life and a good selectivity in industrial
use. Prolongation of the catalyst life avoids frequent
catalyst changes and lowers the catalyst cost.
The catalyst life can be prolonged by the addition of
chlorine gas (Japanese Patent Publication No. 33604/1977) or
oxygen gas (GB Patent No. 2,030,981 and Japanese Patent Kokai
Publication Nos. 82206/1976 and 272535/1989) to a reaction gas
mixture. When the chlorine gas is added, selection of the
reactor material may be limited and also an increase in by-
products must be considered. When the oxygen gas is added,
conversion may be decreased.
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In view of the above, it is advantageous to provide a
catalyst which has as long a life as possible. When such a
catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity, not only the
catalyst cost but also the size of the reactor which is made
of high quality expensive material can be reduced
advantageously.
One object of the present invention is to provide an
improved catalyst which can catalyze a gas phase fluorination
of a halogenated hydrocarbon.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an
improved process for fluorinating a halogenated hydrocarbon in
a gas phase.
According to the present invention, there is provided a
process for fluorinating a halogenated hydrocarbon comprising
reacting a halogenated hydrocarbon with hydrogen fluoride in
the presence of a fluorination catalyst which comprises a
partially fluorinated chromium oxide (III) containing at least
one metal selected from the group consisting of ruthenium and
platinum. In particular, the present invention provides a
process for preparing 134a by reacting 133a with hydrogen
fluoride in the presence of the above catalyst according to
the following reaction formula:
CF3CHZC1 + HF -j CF3CHZF + HC1
Hereinafter, the term "halogenated hydrocarbon" is
intended to mean a hydrocarbon having at least one halogen
atom other than a fluorine atom.
Examples of the halogenated hydrocarbon to be fluorinated
by the process of the present invention are 133a, CC14, CHC13,
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CH2C12, CH3C1, CC13F, CCl2Fz, CZC14, CZC13H, CHCIzCF3, CHC1FCF3,
etc.
The catalyst used according to the present invention
comprises chromium oxide or chromium hydroxide carrying at
least one metal selected from the group consisting of
ruthenium and platinum. Chromium oxide or chromium hydroxide
may be supported on a carrier such as aluminum oxide,
fluorinated aluminum oxide or aluminum fluoride. The
ruthenium or platinum content is from 0.01 to 10 % by mole,
preferably from 0.01 to 6 a by mole based on the amount of
chromium oxide or chromium hydroxide. When the ruthenium or
platinum content is too large, the catalytic activity may
deteriorate.
To carry ruthenium and/or platinum on the catalyst, their
chloride, hydroxide, oxide, chlorometallic acid, and the like
are used.
Ruthenium and/or platinum can be carried on the catalyst
by impregnation, precipitation or mixing.
When chromium hydroxide is used, chromium hydroxide
carrying ruthenium and/or platinum is sintered to convert
chromium hydroxide to chromium oxide and fluorinated with
hydrogen fluoride. When chromium oxide is used, it is
fluorinated after ruthenium and/or platinum are added. While
ruthenium or platinum is present in a metal form, its surface
is partially covered with a fluoride. Chromium oxide is
partially fluorinated. The term "partially fluorinated" is
intended to mean that chromium oxide contains 8 to 48 a by
weight, preferably 15 to 44 o by weight of fluorine.
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In the reaction according to the present invention, the
conversion and/or the catalyst life can be adjusted by
changing the reaction conditions such as the molar ratio of
hydrogen fluoride to the halogenated hydrocarbon, reaction
temperature, etc. When 133a is fluorinated, the molar ratio
of hydrogen fluoride to the halogenated hydrocarbon is from
0.9:1 to 16:1, preferably 1:1 to 10:1, and the reaction
temperature is from 290°C to 380°C.
Reaction pressure is not critical. However, a pressure
higher than atmospheric pressure is not preferred since the
catalytic activity is reduced.
The present invention will be explained in further detail
by the following examples.
In the examples and comparative examples, common reaction
conditions were employed. That is, the molar ratio of
hydrogen fluoride to raw material 1,1,1-trifluoro-
dichloroethane was 1:1, reaction temperature was 350°C, and
contact time (namely ratio (g.sec/Nml) of catalyst weight W to
flow rate F) was 0.4. The maximum conversion achieved by
these conditions was about 13 0 (equilibrium conversion).
The reactor used was a Hasteloy* C made tube having an
inner diameter of 15 mm, and the gas flow rate was 600 ml/min.
Definitions of activity, catalyst life and throughput are
as follows:
The activity is the achieved maximum conversion (o).
* Trademark
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The catalyst life is the time (hr) at which the
conversion decreased to 60 0 of the maximum value.
The throughput is the amount of the reaction product
(134a) produced by one gram of the catalyst during the
catalyst life time.
Preparation of Standard Catalyst
A partially fluorinated chromium oxide catalyst which
contains no additional metal and is used as a standard
catalyst was produced as follows:
To a 5.7 o aqueous solution of chromium nitrate, 10 0
aqueous ammonia in an equivalent amount was dropwise added to
precipitate chromium hydroxide. The precipitate was filtered,
washed with water and dried in air at 120°C for 12 hours. The
catalyst at this stage is referred to as "chromium hydroxide
state catalyst"
This catalyst was pelletized by a pelletizer and kept in
a nitrogen stream at 400°C for 2 hours (sintering), followed
by fluorination with hydrogen fluoride (HF treatment). Then,
the catalyst was ground to a powder having a particle size of
300 to 1000 micrometers. Four grams of the ground catalyst
was used in the reaction. This catalyst was used as a
standard catalyst.
Comparative Example 1
Using a standard catalyst produced from the same chromium
hydroxide state catalyst as used in Example 1, the
fluorination was carried out under the above common
conditions. The results are as follows:
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Activity: 12.60
Catalyst life: 78 hours
Throughput: 177 g
Example 1
The chromium hydroxide state catalyst was mixed with an
aqueous solution of ruthenium chloride the amount of which was
adjusted so that the Ru/Cr ratio was 4.7 % by mole and dried
in the air at 110°C for 12 hours. Thereafter, the catalyst
was sintered and HF-treated in the same manner as in the
preparation of the standard catalyst, and the fluorination was
carried out under the above common conditions. The results
are as follows:
Activity: 12.2%
Catalyst life: 105 hours
Throughput: 235 g
In comparison with Comparative Example 1, the catalyst
life and the throughput were increased without decreasing the
activity.
Example 2
The chromium hydroxide state catalyst was mixed with an
aqueous solution of ruthenium chloride the amount of which was
adjusted so that the Ru/Cr ratio was 0.87 % by mole and dried
in air at 110°C for 12 hours. Thereafter, the catalyst was
sintered and HF-treated in the same manner as in the
preparation of the standard catalyst, and the fluorination was
carried out under the above common conditions. The results
are as follows:
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Activity: 12.3%
Catalyst life: 155 hours
Throughput: 329 g
In comparison with Comparative Example 1, the catalyst
life and the throughput were increased without decreasing the
activity.
Example 3
The chromium hydroxide state catalyst was mixed with an
aqueous solution of ruthenium chloride the amount of which was
adjusted so that the Ru/Cr ratio was 0.094 o by mole and dried
in air at 110°C for 12 hours. Thereafter, the catalyst was
sintered and HF-treated in the same manner as in the
preparation of the standard catalyst, and the fluorination was
carried out under the above common conditions. The results
are as follows:
Activity: l2.la
Catalyst life r 115 hours
Throughput: 244 g
In comparison with Comparative Example 1, the catalyst
life and the throughput were increased without decreasing the
activity.
Example
The chromium hydroxide state catalyst was mixed with an
aqueous solution of chloroplatinic acid the amount of which
was adjusted so that the Pt/Cr ratio was 0.24 % by mole and
water was removed with an evaporator followed by the HF-
treatment in the same manner as in the preparation of the
standard catalyst. Using this catalyst, the fluorination was
~a
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carried out under the above common conditions. The results
are as follows:
Activity: 130
Catalyst life: 63 hours
Throughput: 153 g
In comparison with Comparative Example 1, the catalyst
life and the throughput were increased without decreasing the
activity.
Comparative Example 2
Using the same standard catalyst as in Example 4, the
fluorination was carried out under the common conditions. The
results are as follows:
Activity: 13%
Catalyst life: 40 hours
Throughput: 93 g
